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Giving pregnant women at risk for premature birth more than one course of antenatal corticosteroids did not raise or reduce the likelihood of child death or neurodevelopment problems by age 5, a study found. The findings, based on data from 1,724 pregnant women, were presented at the Pregnancy Meeting.

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The Pioneer accountable care program was designed to allow ACOs to migrate to other models, says CMS chief medical officer Patrick Conway, and 13 of the 32 organizations that joined the program in 2012 have done so. The 23 ACOs that participated in both 2012 and 2013 saved $128 million in 2012 and $90 million in 2013, according to CMS data.

An Australian study of 2,400 pregnant women revealed that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation was associated with reduced incidence of very premature birth. The findings, presented at the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand meeting, showed that women who took the supplements had a greater likelihood of having slightly larger and heavier babies compared with women who took a placebo.

A CDC study concluded that the amount of antigens from vaccines received on one day of vaccination or in total during the first two years of life is not related to the development of autism spectrum disorder. The findings, published in The Journal of Pediatrics, should help to alleviate parents' concerns that "too many vaccines too soon" can lead to autism in their children. Researchers collected data from three managed care organizations and evaluated the total number of vaccine antigens -- which stimulate the body's immune system -- received in the first two years of life and on a single day in a group of 256 children with ASD compared to 752 children without ASD. The children were born between 1994 and 1999 and were age 6-13 when the data were collected. The researchers found no association between higher levels of vaccine antigen exposure and ASD. More than 1 in 10 parents of young children refuse or delay vaccinations, due largely to safety concerns, according to a recent survey. Read the study.

Live music helped soothe premature babies, slowing their heart rates, improving feeding and sleeping patterns, and increasing periods of quiet alertness, according to a study published online in Pediatrics. The findings, say the authors, refute previous suggestions that all sound is overstimulating to preemies. The researchers studied 272 premature infants, 32 weeks or older, in 11 NICUs. The newborns were exposed to several periods of live-sung lullabies, two instruments that simulated sounds in the womb, and to no music at all. A certified music therapist guided the sessions, entraining the music to match breathing rate and utilizing lullabies that were parent-selected and culturally relevant. In addition to helping infants self-regulate, conclude the authors, live, organized, entrained music can decrease parental stress, thus enhancing parent-infant bonding. Read the study.

A small study revealed that fetal thigh measurement at 28 weeks of gestation can predict babies' likelihood of adiposity at birth. Researchers noted that prepregnancy body mass index, maternal weight gain, birth weight were not associated with neonatal adiposity, nor were fetal abdominal circumference and estimated weight. The findings were presented at the Society of Gynecologic Investigation meeting.